Wilderness Lodge... Sterile Reno?

[ScubaCat]

In the not too distant future, all WDW resorts, including DVC resorts, will all look like Hampton Inns in various shades of blue and gray.

I've used the term "HIV" for Hampton Inn Villas a few times. (Not so funny in current times, but the point is the same.)

 

[gharter]

Enjoyed the rustic look that it used to have. Went with the decor of the resort.
The new pictures (if those are correct) look sterile. If the old rooms were worn out, not surprising, they can be updated and remodeled without losing the charm.

 

[DisneyJColeMom]

Enjoyed the rustic look that it used to have. Went with the decor of the resort.
The new pictures (if those are correct) look sterile. If the old rooms were worn out, not surprising, they can be updated and remodeled without losing the charm.

I agree. I would of course prefer a refreshed room over an outdated, unkept one. Theres nothing really WRONG with the new rooms. But i wish they had given them a little more oomph considering what they used to look like. New renos are a clean slate! So many directions they could have gone to go along with a Wilderness theme. But it seems from the comments above this cleaner look appeals to plenty of people!

 

[firefly_ris]

Honestly I really don't mind a lot of the new features. The bathroom looks very nice, and I really like the Chip & Dale feature wall thing going on behind the beds, the headboards on the beds, and the woodland scene behind the coffee station. The light fixtures are nice too. I think what ultimately ends up taking away from the overall look on all of these renos is the big, plain white beds. It draws your eye right to it, it's distracting and the beds take up a large amount of the room so it detracts from all of the other more pleasant visual elements and I think makes people have an overall negative impression even if the other elements in the room look pretty good.

 

[DisneyJColeMom]

I think what ultimately ends up taking away from the overall look on all of these renos is the big, plain white beds. It draws your eye right to it, it's distracting and the beds take up a large amount of the room so it detracts from all of the other more pleasant visual elements

Good point

 

[rkstocke5609]

I Love Wilderness Lodge and I Love what the remodeled room looked like! Alas, I’ll be over at VWL(BRV) and won’t get to enjoy one of these, but it looked beautiful....

 

[kacooke74]

I just wish they didn't get rid of the ceiling fans. I know they're not a popular thing for interior decorators, but they were nice for air flow in the FL heat.

 

[Searc]

Well, that's certainly ugly and looks nothing like a WL room should look. WL was going to be our next stay, but no need now.

 

[DisneyJColeMom]

Wow... I just saw the Animal Kingdom Jambo house renovated rooms... WHY couldn’t whoever did those rooms come up with same for Wilderness Lodge?? Those rooms look gorgeous & richly detailed!! Those headboards. Im officially realizing Im a fan of the wood-carved headboards! That’s what the new room is missing. That new headboard is too smooth & perfect for me, and doesnt look... Wilderness-ey. Side note, Ive gotta plan a stay at Animal Kingdom.

 

[cgattis]

WL is built to look like the Old Faithful Inn in Yellowstone. The lobby is quite a striking recreation, actually. We had wanted to stay at WL since we ate at WV on our first trip. Stayed Thanksgiving 2018 and loved it. We’d wanted to stay at Old Faithful since our honeymoon (couldn’t get in) and did this past June. Talk about some tired rooms!!! But I’m sad to see the WL refurb change the look so much. They could’ve refreshed without changing so much; it definitely feels much less like OF Inn now.

 

[Deb & Bill]

WL is built to look like the Old Faithful Inn in Yellowstone. The lobby is quite a striking recreation, actually. We had wanted to stay at WL since we ate at WV on our first trip. Stayed Thanksgiving 2018 and loved it. We’d wanted to stay at Old Faithful since our honeymoon (couldn’t get in) and did this past June. Talk about some tired rooms!!! But I’m sad to see the WL refurb change the look so much. They could’ve refreshed without changing so much; it definitely feels much less like OF Inn now.

We've stayed twice at Old Faithful Inn. We did not stay in the bunkbed rooms with the bathroom down the hall. We had a room in the newer section that had the squeeky bed and the ceramic handles on the sink. We were lucky with a bathroom in our room. We stayed at the Snow Lodge twice, once in a cabin and once in the newer lodge. We used to live in Montana and went to Yellowstone quite a few times so we had to buy Villas at Wilderness Lodge when they came on the market in 2000.

 

[Carol_]

As someone who LOVES over the top theming a la AOA, and an owner at CCV, I prefer more character in my room but I’m not so turned off to not stay there... Maybe they could add a themed throw pillow or two?

 

[Deb & Bill]

As someone who LOVES over the top theming a la AOA, and an owner at CCV, I prefer more character in my room but I’m not so turned off to not stay there... Maybe they could add a themed throw pillow or two?

A throw pillow is just a germ-ridden thing in the room.

 

[Carol_]

A throw pillow is just a germ-ridden thing in the room.

A complimentary souvenir throw pillow?

 

[Dave006]

As someone who LOVES over the top theming a la AOA, and an owner at CCV, I prefer more character in my room but I’m not so turned off to not stay there... Maybe they could add a themed throw pillow or two?

A throw pillow is just a germ-ridden thing in the room.

A complimentary souvenir throw pillow?

Ahh a themed throw pillow, this reminds me of the round "Yellow" throw pillows from the Contemporary that kept disappearing from the rooms over the years....

Dave

 

[DisneyJColeMom]

A complimentary souvenir throw pillow?

Hehe! I like this idea! It can be plastic wrapped and you take it home

 

[Beachmom0317]

As someone who LOVES over the top theming a la AOA, and an owner at CCV, I prefer more character in my room but I’m not so turned off to not stay there... Maybe they could add a themed throw pillow or two?

I am exactly the same. LOVE AoA. We had our first stay at copper creek in December (we own DVC there) and I thought I wouldn’t like the brightness and clean look but I really didn’t mind it. When we stayed at a Poly studio in 2019 I felt room was dark and I liked how bright things were at CCV. I could easily see things. But we aren’t the type to hang in the room too much. I love the lodge lobby and surroundings so that outweighed the watered down room theming for me. I remember loving the chip n dale tiles in bathrooms when we stayed in hotel side, so I will miss those touches.

 

[nkereina]

We like the new look too, but my only gripe is the hard floors. Perhaps it was just our experience, but housekeeping did not vacuum or sweep them at all during our 4 night stay. I have a lot of hair so I shed a lot of it whenever I brush or blow dry my hair. By day 3, the amount of hair I collected off my socks from walking around the room could have formed a small tumbleweed. This was less of an issue when there was carpet.

 

[Jacq7414]

I just will miss the tiles in the shower. They were so cute! My daughter likes them too

 

[DisneyJColeMom]

I just will miss the tiles in the shower. They were so cute! My daughter likes them too

I saw a picture in a different thread, where they had a Standard King test room on a lower floor, maybe ground floor, that a guest stayed in. They took pictures of the room & there were subtle differences. The bathroom cut-out, which was the size of one square, had a Chip or Dale tile in it. But in the videos of the Club Level room tours that HerewiththeEars posted, I dont see the tile in those bathrooms.